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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Fundamentals of Graphic Design by California Institute of the Arts

4.8
stars
18,381 ratings

About the Course

The Fundamentals of Graphic Design course offered by CalArts on Coursera provides a comprehensive introduction to the essential building blocks of visual communication. This practice-oriented program focuses on four primary pillars: imagemaking, typography, shape and color theory, and the principles of composition. Unlike software-specific tutorials, this curriculum emphasizes the act of making and the mastery of design principles. It encourages participants to transform abstract concepts into tangible design projects. Learners will explore diverse techniques for visual representation and gain a technical understanding of how to manipulate rhythm, pattern, and contrast to organize information effectively. Please note that this course focuses on conceptual and formal principles rather than technical software instruction. While projects may be completed using tools like Adobe Creative Suite, specific tutorials for Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign are not provided. The curriculum is designed to build foundational design proficiency that is applicable across any analog or digital toolset. By the end of the program, learners will have developed a core set of graphic design skills applicable to personal creative projects or further specialized study in professional design. This course serves as a critical first step for any aspiring communicator looking to master the universal visual language that shapes global culture and media....

Top reviews

CS

May 9, 2018

An ok course for beginners. A bit too basic for someone who has already had experience in design, but is great anyway cause it breaks things back down to the simplest parts to help you remember roots.

XZ

Jan 2, 2020

Very great course to start designing. It helped me become bolder in creating contrasts in my work. Great for anyone interested in graphic design, or anything like bullet journalling, cooking, etc.

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4176 - 4200 of 4,686 Reviews for Fundamentals of Graphic Design

By Peach O

Jul 17, 2024

Interesting information, examples, and ease of access. However, instructions for assignments are often ambiguous in contrast to their syllabi.

By Tú Đ M

Sep 5, 2021

This course does exactly what its name suggests. I understood the foundation of graphic design, how to be creative. I really like this course!

By Sevval B

Jan 26, 2021

Liked it a lot! It was very interesting, it is useful for everyone that has interest in graphic design and would like to start from somewhere!

By Deleted A

Apr 16, 2020

Coursera has not only helped me to understand the basics or fundamentals of Graphic Design, but also how to put them in practical application.

By Amit K

Sep 17, 2019

A very basic course on graphic designing. As a beginner I enjoyed the content and it was fun to complete the assignments before the dew dates.

By Abubakar I

Apr 28, 2020

The course is well organized and well demonstrated and it includes all the basics of graphic design for beginners. Really enjoyed this course

By Juliana Y

Jul 27, 2017

It's been fun! As the name suggest, it really is a fundamental course meant for beginners. I find the typography week to be most informative.

By Rachel S

Sep 14, 2016

Overall great course. Some knowledge Adobe Illustrator and file formatting needed.

The Audio is out of sink from the video on many lessons.

By David L

Jun 14, 2016

It's described as "fundamentals" and that's it. Very basic. Everything is well explained. In my opinion, it could be a little more in depth.

By Daria H

Feb 9, 2016

Great introduction course. I wish there were links to relevant literature on the topics. Some exercise formulations are not instantly clear.

By Micaela D G

Aug 17, 2020

Muy bueno! Las instancias de práctica me han resultado muy claras y me han permitido avanzar con el aprendizaje de la teoría. Recomendable!

By Naiara S

Sep 8, 2020

I really enjoyed the classes, but some assignments were not that challenging. Also the peer review is not as effective as I was expecting.

By Farah A

Jul 22, 2020

Its a great course.it helped me to grow my passion for Graphic design. its totally a basic level course. its really helpful for beginners.

By Thomas d M

Oct 20, 2020

As they say, it's very the fundamentals, maybe not necessary if you already have quite some experience, but interesting for any beginner!

By SHRUTI G

Jul 17, 2020

Thanks for this fantastic app which really was very beneficial for me. It is a best thing to do in this lockdown by learning more things.

By Baqir A

Dec 28, 2022

Course is best for beginners it would have been even better if a specific software was taught too for graphic designing otherwise best!

By SONAM S

Sep 25, 2021

Nice way to teach because some time we want to learn by video and other time with text and this a nice plateform to learn something new

By Magali G D

Aug 1, 2021

I would have enjoyed more if the teacher showed a bit of enthusiasm. Most of the time his voice sounded very dettached or uninterested.

By Kelsey H

Jan 30, 2021

I thought it was a great class the lectures were very informative but I thought some of the assignments could've been more exploratory.

By Joly Z

May 29, 2018

A very good overview of graphic design - for someone just want an intro, can just take this course rather than the whole specification.

By Danielle T

Jun 25, 2017

Quite interesting and enjoyed it well enough! I was expecting it to be more computer based, but the principles were still of interest.

By Abdul H T

Apr 8, 2024

The course is good, just the issue is in assignment submission to the course as it's a bit confusing as to where we need to submit it.

By Karelle I

Jan 23, 2022

I like the topic it explain very clearly but some videos are boring. But still a very excellent and resourceful professors. Thank you.

By Rhina B

Apr 19, 2016

A great course to learn to design. It's not a software course, which is perfect. Just what I needed it. Unfortunately, it's too short.

By Hadeel D

Jul 20, 2022

The course will put you into the design map as it gives basic and fundamentla areas of design in an easy and straighforward approach.